Sidearm for posts



Oct. 14, 1958 F. G. SCHLGS'SER ETA].

I SIDEARM FOR POSTS Filed March 28, 1956 20 f7;- Li:

IN VEN TOR. A S 09 10 JJ'i K BY A 6:41. 547

United States Patent SIDEARM FOR POSTS Francis G. Schlosser, Fairview, and Frederick J. Galloway, Clifton, N. J., assignors to Pfafi and Kendall, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 28, 1956, Serial No. 574,426

1 Claim. (Cl. 287-54) This invention relates to a sidearm adapted to secure articles to a post, in a rapid and accurate manner. Pursuant to the invention, the sidearm is provided having a hub portion to which an article may be secured, in turn securing the article to the post, said sidearm having a plurality of fingers extending in spaced relation from the main body portion in the plane of the longitudinal axis thereof, for insertion into the post aperture. The fingers are provided with inwardly extending portions and the hub is provided with an axial aperture therethrough of a given dimension which is intersected by the inwardly extending portions of the fingers. Thus, on insertion of a tubular sleeve within the sidearm through the hub portion having the aperture of a given dimension, it will intersect the inwardly extending portions of the fingers and spread the same, so that said fingers will be disposed in locking position with the inner face of the post defining the aperture. By this means, the sidearm is rapidly and accurately secured to the post. On securing an article to the sidearm over the top portion thereof, as for example, by threadedly engaging the hub portion, the article so secured to the sidearm will, upon engagement with the outer face of the post, further tighten the sidearm on the post.

These and other advantageous objects, which will appear from the drawings and from the description hereinafter, are accomplished by the structure of our invention, of which an embodiment is illustrated in the drawings. It will be apparent, from a consideration of said drawings and the following description, that the invention may be embodied in other forms suggested thereby, and such other forms as come within the scope of the appended claim are to be considered within the scope and purview of the instant invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an exploded, fragmentary, elevational view of a vertically disposed post, and an article to be secured thereto pursuant to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a sidearm embodying the invention, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view showing the sidearm of the present invention secured to a post, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, elevational view showing the manner in which an article is secured perpendicular to the post pursuant to the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the device of this invention comprises a sidearm (Fig. 3) comprising a hub member having a main body portion 11 (Fig. 2) which may, if desired, be internally or externally threaded to secure an article 12 thereto directly or through a coupling intermediary, which in turn may be secured to the main body 11. The main body 11 extends inwardly of a first end of the sidearm 10 and is of greater cross-sectional dimension than the apertured portion 14 of the vertical 2,856,215 Patented Oct. 14, 1958 ICC from the hub and comprises a plurality of fingers 17 extending in spaced relation from the main body portion 11 in the plane of the longitudinal axis L thereof (Fig. 2). The fingers, collectively have an' outer dimension equal to or less than the dimensions of the aperture 14 initially, so that the fingers may be passed through the aperture. A shouldered portion 18 connects the main body portion 11 with the fingers 17 and is adapted to abut the outer face 19 of the post when the hub is inserted in said aperture (Fig. 4). The hub has an axial aperture 20 therethrough of a given dimension and the fingers are provided with inwardly extending portions 21 (Fig. 2) intersecting, as noted at 22, the extended plane of the hub axial aperture 20. To secure the sidearm to a post 15 having an aperture 14 therein, the sidearm is positioned in said aperture with the fingers 17 in essentially the form shown in Fig. 2 extending through the aperture and the shoulder 18 of the main body 11 of the sidearm 10 abutting the outer face of the post surrounding the said aperture, A tubular sleeve S may then be inserted into the hub, passing freely through the aperture 20 and coming in contact with the intersecting inwardly extending portions 21 of the fingers 17, spreading the fingers so that they will be disposed in locking position with the inner face of the post defining the aperture, as shown in Fig. 4. The fingers 17 are preferably provided with a short longitudinal portion 23 immediately adjacent the mainsbody 11 of the thickness of the post 15; the inner dimension of portion 23 is equal to or greater than that of the axial aperture 20 of the body 11 so that the tubular sleeve S will not encounterany opposition until it passes beyond the inner face of the post. The main body 11 may be externally threaded as shown at 24, Fig. 4, in which case the coupling 13 or an internally threaded article 12 may be threaded onto said threaded portion 24 of the main body and into abutment with the outer face 19 of the post, thereby drawing the side arm 10 into tightly locking relation with said post.

The device of the present invention is adapted, as shown in the drawings, to be secured to a post, so that in turn articles may be secured thereto and in turn, thereby suspended from the post. The latter may be disposed horizontally, vertically, angularly or arcuately relative to the horizon. The use of the term vertical herein to designate such posts is therefore by way of example only and not limitative of the plane of disposition of such posts, within the scope and purview of the invention. Likewise the term posts shall be deemed to include all tubular objects such as posts, spars, braces, etc. disposed in vertical or any other position.

The tubular sleeve S may be left in place as shown in Fig. 4 after installation.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A sidearm for disposition on a post having an apertured portion, to secure an article horizontally to said post, said post having an outer face adjacent said aperture, said sidearm comprising a hub member having a main body portion extending inwardly of a first. end thereof, said main body portion being of greater cross sectional dimensions than the apertured portion of the post, a flexible neck portion extending from the hub member and comprising a plurality of fingers extending in spaced relation from the main body portion about the longitudinal axis thereof, said fingers collectively having an outer surface of uniform transverse dimension equal to or less than the transverse dimension of the aperture, so that they may be passed through the aperture, a shouldered portion connecting the main body portion and fingers, abutting the outer face of the post when the hub member is inserted in said aperture, said hub member having an References Cited in the file of this patent axial aperture therethrongh of a given dimension, and in- UNITED STATES PATENTS Wardly extending portions of the fingers inclined toward the axis of the hub member, so that a tubular sleeve may gcsparland 1:- beirseted't th hb b t dth fi 5 es p m o e mem er sprea a 2,269,895 Foster et al. Jan. 13, 1942 on contact With the extended portions of the fingers, into locking position with the inner face of the post defining 2,279,508 Bergman 14, 1942 said aperture, said main body portion being externally 2514504 Mohne July 111 1950 threaded for engagement with an internally threaded article to move the article into frictional engagement with 10 the outer face of the post. 

